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Old Vs New: Lush’s Dreamwash Shower Smoothie

Lush recently released a lot of new products, some of them are reformulated or reshaped versions of existing products so I thought I’d get a few of the new versions of old favourites to see how they compare. The first one and the one I’ve used the most is the Dreamwash shower smoothie. I can’t remember the old price, but it was around the £10 I think for the 250g tub, this isn’t available any more online so if you want to try either of these it has to be the new roll style. The roll style costs £5 for 100g (the size I bought) or a larger 250g chunk is available for £12.50 and you can find these either in Lush stores or online.

The idea of Dreamwash is that it works in a similar way to the Dream Cream which is well known for being good for sensitive skin and eczema sufferers. I have found that when my skin flares up, I have slightly sensitive skin from sunburn or if my skin reacts to something then cool baths and only using the Dreamwash has really helped. It contains calamine, chamomile, aloe, tea tree and lavender which are all ingredients used for sensitive skin and treating acne prone skin.

The original version, like all the old shower smoothies, was a creamy smoothie texture like other companies have done. It starts out fairly hard but after a while, I’ve had this one for a year now, it can get softer and spreads easier. I did find that this one was slightly separated and I had to stir it as I don’t use it that often but it worked really well and exactly how I remembered it. It doesn’t have the nicest smell and it’s fairly strong when used, it’s the chamomile and aloe that stand out to me, and it’s a bit of an odd combination, though I know that others have said that the lavender is the main scent they get. I think it may be a case of whichever you like the least stands out the most, that tends to happen to me with a lot.

This version is really easy to smooth on your skin and it does lather a little bit. It’s not really designed to lather as it’s more a smoothie and cream than a soap but there is a small amount of bubbles especially if you use it with a shower puff. As this is kept in a pot it stays soft and easy to use all the time, it doesn’t dry out and actually gets softer the more you use it. You only need a tiny amount to go pretty far with this as it’s just a thin layer needed and if you get a small lump you can rub it on your skin and it leaves a trail of the clean feeling behind it.

I do find that this is very drying, I definitely need the Dream Cream afterwards or some kind of similar soothing cream as otherwise my skin gets all dry and flaky which kind of defeats the point of using this. It does remove dead skin and I think the squeaky clean feeling you get it what helps remove dead skin cells as it’s not exfoliating at all, it’s very smooth.

When I first bought it, it was a lot softer than it is now though it’s harder to see in photographs than in person

The new version is harder roulade version of the Dreamwash formula with a blue layer used around the edge to great the Swiss roll style look. I think this is glycerine based though I can’t tell exactly from the ingredients. I did find that this blue bit went a bit slimy in the shower but it didn’t seem to dissolve completely, I’m not sure if it’s meant to. When it first arrived I would say that the consistency was the same as the tub when it first arrived as it was fairly soft and squishy and you could take a bit off it with your fingers. I found after opening the plastic bag that it came in that it started to dry out fairly fast, within a month it is now shrunk quite a bit and looks a lot harder than it did. It didn’t take any effort to cut through it with a knife as it’s still soft in the middle and took very little effort to squash it between my fingers to break up the bits I’d cut off.

The new version has virtually the same ingredients, as it’s meant to help with sensitive skin these are the ingredients in case you’re sensitive to any of them (as I copy and pasted it from the Lush website if you click on the ingredients in blue it will take you to a page on the Lush website that tells you about them, I didn’t realise this would happen but it’s a nice way to see what’s in there anyway):

The melon pulp is new and that may be in the blue swirl part rather than the cream as I know they’ve used melon to make something similar like soap flakes in the past. The colours and the lustre are also from the blue swirl as none of them are in the old version, they’re the only four ingredients not listed so I think the pink squishy part that’s the actual Dreamwash is exactly the same.

As this version is harder I did have to use a knife to cut it apart and as it’s loose I made sure I didn’t put it in the shower itself and only took the cut off portions in with me as it’s the kind of thing that will likely turn to mush if it’s exposed to water. It did react exactly the same as the old one originally did when added to water, it becomes a very thin light pink or creamy water which is easy to use so I’ve found that adding a bit of water before using the small portion makes it a lot easier. It’s a lot like their roulade style face cleansers in the way you use it so if you’ve tried them before the smoothies are like a larger version for your body.

Having tried both of these side by side I think this is one of those products that hasn’t really changed and the new version works just as well as the old. In some ways this new version actually seems better than the old; it seems like it’s easier to control the mount you get and if you cut the pieces off before you get in the shower you’re less likely to get any water on it like you had to with the tub as you had to get it out with your fingers in the shower with the lid off. I’m not sure how well it will last long term as it’s drying out so much so it may not be as good in the long term if you use it like me and only when you need it.

As both versions are so drying I’ll be sticking with my method of using it every so often, only when needed, as although it does calm my skin when I need it it’s too drying to use more than maybe once a week on a regular basis. It’s a bit like those spot creams you get that zap the spot and dry your skin at the same time but working on sensitive or painfully dry skin. It’s very soothing and when teamed with Dream Cream it’s great for dry pealing skin but on its own it just makes my skin drier.

I would say that if you have delicate skin and don’t mind using a cream afterwards and can put up with the smell, which isn’t all that pleasant until you get used to it, it’s definitely worth a try. As it’s designed to help sensitive skin I would think that Lush would be happy to let you have a sample, I’ve found that ordering online they tend to send samples if you ask for specific things and in store I’ve been given samples if things that you have to see if your skin agrees with like face treatments so I’d think this would come under that as well.

As this has helped my skin so much over the years I will probably still be buying this when my current lot runs out. I’m hoping that keeping the remainder of the roulade in an old empty one of their big black pots will reduce the drying out effect but I’ll still be using this newer version first as I’m worried about it drying out and becoming unusable which would just make it a waste of money. I do wish that, like Rub Rub Rub, they had kept both versions available but can see why they didn’t as this is so close, at least the other has two very different textures.

Have any of you tried the new roulades? Any tips on keeping them nice and fresh looking? I might have left it a bit late having seen how much it’s shrunk but I’d be happy with it staying as it is, as long as it doesn’t get too much harder.